Tracked vehicles dedicated to perform particular tasks commonly include a structurally rigid chassis which provides support for the cab, engine, drive train and associated hydraulic systems and/or other power take-off mechanisms. The chassis is then generally combined with a permanently mounted single-function or dedicated work tool constructed as a separate unit. Thus, the chassis is designed to support a permanently attached special function work tool such as a scissor lift, dump bucket, blade or telescoping arm.
Construction equipment, and particularly heavy equipment outfitted with tracks are capital intensive to purchase and to maintain. In order to limit the need for recurring capital outlays on expensive tracked vehicles with varying work tools the disclosed technology allows heavy equipment to be quickly and efficiently reconfigured with modular work tools capable of being mounted on the tracked undercarriage.
Tracked vehicle manufacturers face differing demands from their customers. Tracked vehicles are built in a wide variety of configurations with many optional accessories to meet these differing demands. A tracked vehicle line may be offered with dozens of different optional accessories that can be combined in hundreds of different ways. The same line of tracked vehicles may be sold to customers who range from an excavating company to a telecommunications company to a contractor installing high voltage transmission lines across the country. A general excavator may want capability to push large amounts of soil while a telecommunications company may want equipment that can not only move soil but also quickly auger holes for cell tower supports while a contractor for a utility may need all of the above capabilities as well as a personnel bucket on a telescoping arm for lineman to install the high tension transmission lines.
Tracked vehicles are built on assembly lines to spread the costs of production over many units. The cost to assemble a line of tracked vehicles is generally proportional to the number of combinations of options available in which it can be built. The larger the number of options available on a tracked vehicle, then, typically the higher the cost to build the tracked vehicle. One of the ways in which tracked vehicle reseller can offer a variety of optional accessories on the tracked vehicle at a retrofit location, and at a much reduced cost, is through the use of modularity.